This invention relates generally to means and methods for pulling wire or rope through a conduit and relates, more particularly, to equipment used for carrying out such a task.
It is common at a construction jobsite that a wire or rope (e.g. one that is tied to an electrical wire) is desired to be pulled through an electrical conduit. For purposes of pulling such a wire or rope through the conduit, there exists equipment which includes a motor-driven capstan about which the wire or rope to be pulled can be wound, a series of arms which are joined in a end-to-end arrangement so that as the wire or rope being pulled from the conduit moves toward the capstan, the wire or rope is guided along the arrangement of arms. A free end of the arm arrangement is positioned against an end of the conduit, and the motor-driven capstan is actuated for pulling the wire or rope through and out of the conduit.
An example of a piece of equipment of the aforedescribed class is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,016,267 having the same named inventors as the instant application.
It would be desirable to provide a piece of equipment for pulling for wire or rope through a conduit which improves upon the equipment described in the referenced patent.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved wire or rope puller.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a puller which is relatively lightweight, easy to manipulate and set up and which can be adapted for pulling wire or rope through a conduit having an end disposed at any of a number of locations, such as from a floor, wall or a ceiling.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a puller which is capable of pulling heavy loads at lower speed or lighter loads at higher speeds and which can be readily switched from a lighter load pull to a higher load pull or vice versa.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a puller whose construction distributes forces which are exerted upon the puller in a manner which reduces the amount of load-pulling forces which would otherwise be required to pull the wire or rope along the path.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a puller having a conduit-engaging assembly capable of being quickly adapted to any of a number of differently-sized conduits through which the wire or rope is desired to be pulled.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a puller which is uncomplicated in structure, yet effective in operation.